Let's talk (budget) home recording setups!

[Steve Holmes]

I know next to nothing about home recording believe it or not. My current setup for shooting video works fairly well, but the audio is being recorded with a pretty ghetto setup currently and I wanted to investigate a more pro setup. Joe Crabtree and some other folks on here have great sounding vids and I wanted learn some more about that kind of thing.
So, I wanted to investigate a super-newb beginner setup. Kick, snare, a couple of overheads maybe. Can folks make some recommendations in terms of mics, hardware interface and recording programs?

[Josiah]

I know nothing on the video side, other then how to sync vid with audio via Premiere.

Many studios I've tracked in use these mics, and because of that, it's what I personally own. Sure KSM 137's for overheads/hats. D112/B52 for kick (industry standard). Sennheiser E604's for toms and E606's for floor toms.

[bensdrums]

With your dynamics and control you should be able to get a pretty solid sound with two good overheads (I use SM81s) and a decent kick mic (Beta 52, d112, e906, d6, whatever... all in the $200 range) in the room. I use more mics than that, but I'm nowhere near the player you are and need all the help I can get. I run all my stuff through an O1V into Garage Band, shoot with a cheap camera, and then mix the audio and video in iMovie.

[Lucas Ives]

One way I saved some cash was to use SM57s on the toms as opposed to higher-priced condensers.

Springing for the digital mixer (01v96 in my case) probably made the biggest difference for me -- per-channel graphic EQs allow you to really tweak your monitor mix and adding some reverb to the headphones/in-ears makes all the difference in the world.

[Timbata]

Check out the "Glen Johns" technique for mic placement:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqHQRr2Oaxs&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-_1mJFKtso

[Juan Expósito]

Anyone here using standalone workstation portable studio?
I mean: no computer interface for recording, like Yamaha aw24, Tascam neo, Korg d32...
(Of course the computer is used to transfer the files later, for final edition)
********
You can't go wrong with:
Shure Sm57
Akg d112 or Shure beta 52 for BD
Audio Tecnica AT2020 for overheads....

Their quality/money relationship is excellent.

[chris perra]

What's your budget and Computer setup?

There are a ton of options these days.. And all work well.

I'd say get some kind of 8 channel firewire unit.. Like:

http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/ProFire2626.html
http://www.focusrite.com/products/audio ... re_pro_40/
http://www.presonus.com/products/detail ... oductid=43

And get a mic pack like...
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/7 ... _Drum.html
http://www.directproaudio.com/product.c ... ctid=57536
http://www.directproaudio.com/product.c ... ctid=51199

Get mic stands/clips cables accordingly...(can cost alot)

And use software like

http://www.steinberg.net/en/products/cu ... sions.html

http://www.apple.com/ca/logicpro/

http://www.cakewalk.com/


Use the recorderman technique for overheads..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IiFOD1EeKhQ

Mic kick snare and toms how you like it..

Farther away from drum=more room sound+more mids/top.
Closer to drum equals more low end+more direct sound from drums.

Angle mic straight down on edge of drum for more ring.. Point to center for less..
Tape wallets on drums for steely Dan drum sound..

Angle mics away from snare and cymbals to get less bleed..

I prefer to physically edit the toms to kill bleed in between tom hits...

Eq to taste.
Add buss compression on seperate group..
Blend original drum signal with super compressed buss signal.

Go get a beer,,

[sturla]

Great topic!

I did a bit of research before I went out and bought myself a Focusrite Liquid Saffire 56 (8 mic pres included and lots of I/O), and I also got myself a Focusrite Octopre (to have another 8 channels of mic pres since I sometimes need more than 8 mics for what I want to record).
I record and mix all inside Logic Pro 9 on my little Macbook Pro 13" (from 2009). Works quite well - even when recording all 16 mic pres at once.
I wanted to go a step up from just using my portabel Tascam DR-100 recorder (more on that below).

But for this other thing, I have invested in a couple of Audio Technica AT-4050 condenser mics (but they are quite exensive, but very good for various uses, OH's, ambience, and even in front of the kick).
But I was also really impressed with those very cheap Oktava MK-012 cigar mics. A bit darker sounding for OH use, but that can also be a good thing.
I absolutely would like a couple of Ribbon mics though, but they are usually quite fragile and expensive. But I dream of a pair of Royers R-121's, or Beyerdynamics M-160's or for the hell of it: a pair of Coles 4038 ribbons.

I also recommened checking out the Glyn Johns recording set-up. You can get really great sounding kit with a minimum amount of mic's. It also helps for all the phase-problems you very quickly get into when using multiple mic's.
I also feel that some sort of ambient miking can help quite a lot. I sometimes like it to be a bit "dirty" and not too clean sounding....

For an example - here is a clip I did (with a basic backing-track) with me just playing a simple half-time shuffle with this set-up. All done and mixed very quickly.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOdLVIyI ... AAAAAAACAA

Steve - does the recorder you have have XLR outputs for recording with external mics?
For a much simpler and a cheaper solution, I have a little and very similar Tascam DR-100 which sounds so much better with putting on some external mics (which was my tom-tom mics EV 308's).
My first test with this set-up was this one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=61nlfz9x ... AAAAAAARAA
I mixed it inside Logic Pro 9 and added some reverb and EQ and compression....You can do quite a lot (to a degree) to enhance and make it sound a bit better by mixing in a DAW as opposed to just the raw audio signal from these portabel recorders.

[Steve Holmes]

What's your budget and Computer setup?

Macbook Air with 4 gigs ram. Budget? Let's say around $1000.
Currently reading up on this:
http://www.m-audio.com/products/en_us/P ... Ultra.html

[chris perra]

Sorry, was writing my novel when you posted your budget..
Have to think a bit for best results..

haha